Tottenham Tell Man City to Fork Out £150m for Gareth Bale

Manchester City must find a world-record £150million fee to lure Gareth Bale from Tottenham.

The Premier League leaders, who face Spurs in a title clash at the Etihad Stadium today, have made discreet ­enquiries about the 22-year-old Wales ­international winger.

Even cash-rich City were staggered by the asking price, which would shatter the current £80million world-record transfer of Cristiano ­Ronaldo from neighbours Manchester United to Real Madrid.

Rumours had surfaced that Bale has a £50 million buy-out clause in his current contract and City were ready to steel a march on a host of European club by meeting that asking price in the summer.

The Stellar Group, who represent Bale, have confirmed that there is no escape clause.

SOURCE: Daily Mirror

Gareth Bale is tied down to a White Hart Lane contract until 2015 so clearly any move to lure the Welshman away from the North London club would cost a great deal but £150m may be stretching the point just a tad! If the idea is that Tottenham have no intention of selling the former Southampton man then they could of course just say ‘He’s not for sale’ in much the same way chairman Daniel Levy stuck by his guns when Croatian midfielder Luka Modric asked to leave for Chelsea.

Bale has matured into an excellent attacking option who consistently delivers performances of real quality and his rise to prominence has helped exorcise all the demons that existed during the wide-man’s early days at Tottenham. Many will recall how the youngster became the subject of many pub quizzes as it took an inordinate amount, 24 games, of time for Spurs to collect a Premier League three point haul when the then full back was part of the starting line-up.

However Gareth Bale got his head down, learned to do the easy things well and then built up his confidence and begun his meteoric rise to perhaps one of the best wingers in World football.

In 2009/10 Bale helped Tottenham secure a historic top four finish, in 2010/11 he netted frequently and assisted regularly
and saved his best form for Champions League action. This term he has risen his game another notch and has thus far managed seven goals and is the Premier League’s second highest assist maker. No surprise then why many of Europe’s elite are keen on acquiring his services.

Harry Redknapp’s biggest fear after Tottenham lost their first two fixtures of the season so heavily, against Man United & Man City 3-0 and 5-1 respectively, was that a failure to compete for a top four spot could see Bale tempted by a high profile exit. The White Hart Lane boss needn’t have worried as not Spurs are not only riding high in the pursuit of a top four finish they are arguably genuine title contenders to boot.

Now one worrying aspect of this report is that if there is one club on the face of the planet who would just be crazy, and rich, enough to invest £150m in one player, then that team would be Man City and indeed that player may well be Gareth Bale!